Glad I'm not a millennial

[Andre1969]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley I'm not making any generalizations about the various generations, but this is worrying. The risks of raising a risk-averse generation. The statistic, anyway, whether or not I agree with the reasons.

My one friend that I mentioned, above the 30 year old, has a 401k with his company. He's at least contributing enough to get the company match. However, when I asked him what he's putting it into, he said just cash. He's afraid to invest in anything risky.

I tried explaining to him about dollar cost averaging, and maybe at least putting some into an S&P500 index fund, but it just went over his head. But, he's also one of those types who thinks he can just keep working longer, and at this point says he plans to work until around 75.

[enginerd]

All the millenials in my department seem to be hard working and smart. Yeah, they have the latest phone and the biggest plan. But they don't have a TV, cable, a fancy stereo system, a car payment....all things that I had in my early 20s....and I didn't pay off my student loans until I was 35.

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 My one friend that I mentioned, above the 30 year old, has a 401k with his company. He's at least contributing enough to get the company match. However, when I asked him what he's putting it into, he said just cash. He's afraid to invest in anything risky. I tried explaining to him about dollar cost averaging, and maybe at least putting some into an S&P500 index fund, but it just went over his head. But, he's also one of those types who thinks he can just keep working longer, and at this point says he plans to work until around 75.

that's the other thing - "they" are fairly risk averse - they need to be 60/40 minimum

[Amethyst]

Could they be the ones with the smart parents whom they listen to, LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by enginerd All the millenials in my department seem to be hard working and smart.

[enginerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst Could they be the ones with the smart parents whom they listen to, LOL

Could be, or maybe just the trait of an enginerd...errr...I mean engineer

[Fedup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 My one friend that I mentioned, above the 30 year old, has a 401k with his company. He's at least contributing enough to get the company match. However, when I asked him what he's putting it into, he said just cash. He's afraid to invest in anything risky. I tried explaining to him about dollar cost averaging, and maybe at least putting some into an S&P500 index fund, but it just went over his head. But, he's also one of those types who thinks he can just keep working longer, and at this point says he plans to work until around 75.

My millennial kids are like that. But I did the investing for them. I put them all in stocks fund and forget about it.


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[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst Old people tend to think the world is going to hell in a hand-basket, and young people tend to think they have it worse than any young people ever. That's the perspective of an older person who was raised by older people (my parents had me very late, after two kids they had at more "normal" ages for parenting). In my opinion, the whole generational-conflict thing became a "thing" in the 1960's due to the Vietnam war, civil rights struggles, and the excitement and drama those generated. After that, generational-conflict as a "thing" could have died a natural death, but people were having too much fun with it. Indeed, it has been seized upon - and inflated to massive pseudo-significance - by media outlets who need customers, and consultants who make big bucks convincing companies and Government agencies that they need costly "intergenerational conflict management strategies." Look at the silly labels: "Greatest generation" "Silents" "X" "millennials." Younger people wear them like badges today! I can distinctly remember zero people of my age referring to themselves as baby boomers...or anything, really, except maybe "teenagers." My parents died before the term "greatest generation" came into common parlance, but they would have died laughing at the notion that there was something especially "great" about their age-mates. Amethyst

Nothing is sillier than the label slapped on me....I was born in 1964 and thus labeled a "baby boomer". At best I should be labeled the next one, whichever it is. My dad was not even in high school when the War ended. So yes, I agree they are silly.


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[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by enginerd All the millenials in my department seem to be hard working and smart. Yeah, they have the latest phone and the biggest plan. But they don't have a TV, cable, a fancy stereo system, a car payment....all things that I had in my early 20s....and I didn't pay off my student loans until I was 35.

Here's what I'm wondering about:
200 years ago if you told people that in the year 2000 (almost) nobody would own a horse, they'd assume that the quality of life had gone way down.

I wonder if the Millennials are the 'next gen' of our culture where they just won't live like we do. We don't live like our grandparents did!

ER is important to us because many of us had awful jobs or we wanted to do other things; maybe they won't want to retire at all because they have jobs/incomes that are more satisfying, less stressful or whatever. Maybe they'll all end up working 20 hour weeks and be happy with that because they can Skype their buddies across the globe all day instead of working for the man and tour France on a big screen.

[Markola]

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Originally Posted by marko I wonder if the Millennials are the 'next gen' of our culture where they just won't live like we do. We don't live like our grandparents did!

+1. We pre-Millennials grew up with an education system built around a farm economy (school day ends at 3 with summer vacations to tend the crops) and into a mechanistic work world built around factory work (put on acceptable uniform, commute, clock in, produce, clock out, commute). The online world allows for education and productivity any time, any place with short term gigs (e-Lance, Etsy, eBay, Uber) and portable benefits (Obamacare, IRAs) becoming prevalent. Any idea of reciprocal loyalty between workers and organizations has been shattered and replaced with At-Will Employers resulting in At-Will Employees. No wonder younger people might seem a little different as our world fades into irrelevancy for them.

[kcowan]

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Originally Posted by Fedup I think some millennials will end up inherit a lot of money. I wouldn't feel sorry for them.

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Originally Posted by Chuckanut Yes, but they will live to be 100, and 80 will be the new 50. Right?

Father and MIL lasted until 95/93 so we never relied on any inheritance. In discussions with my oldest son who is named executor, he assures me that he has zero expectation for any inheritance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola No wonder younger people might seem a little different as our world fades into irrelevancy for them.

I remember when computers started to encroach into our work environment with the popularity of email. Before that it was clerical staff who used them.

We used to declare email free times when everyone could talk to each other!

Now many of us have no clue what those people are doing on the smartphones. One thing I know for sure. They are doing much more than we ever did on our desktops. We know that text messages take up much time and keeping in touch is more extensive that we were ever able to. Talking to the parents once a week versus regular interaction all the time. Reviewing your medical status or financial status, all available at your fingertips. Arranging your schedule. Multi-tasking. Music, (talking)books on disk...The list goes on and on.

[Fedup]

I told my husband, the longer we live the more money we have thanks to compounding. My spreadsheet does show that amount. His parents were 87/91, and he has an uncle who is 94, still coherent. I told my kids not to expect anything either but it may come as a surprise.


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[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by highlow65 It doesn't have to be this way, You just have to work harder and smarter then your peers and spend less than you make. No magic formula needed, there is still opportunity out there but you have to go out and take it. You cant expect a pension or job security, but those who really want to succeed will be fine.

Putting the compound interest curve on a laptop/computer graph or a spreadsheet table doesn't mean it's changed any.

The math is still the same.

heh heh heh - 1976 K&E Engineering Graph Paper for me. Is that retro or what?

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclemick 1976 K&E Engineering Graph Paper for me. Is that retro or what?

What? No sliderule!

[Lsbcal]

Our son is 31 (older end of millennial I guess). He is in a small start up but with no equity share. He works very hard, gets decent pay, and has learned a ton. He's starting to appreciate us more and we are appreciating him more too (if that is possible). He even mentioned a few days ago that he was reading that book I gave him awhile back "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

He's not a planner but tries to be careful with money. He's now got a girl friend with a head on her shoulders (plus pretty as a bonus) as opposed to the just-pretty ones before her. I don't worry as someday he'll inherit what we have but we have not discussed it and I don't think this is in his plans.

Just thought I'd add this to the discussion. I'm not going to try to generalize about a diverse set of millions of young people.

[Independent]

The OP says that the class of 2015 has to retire two years later than the class of 2013.

As almost anyone here can attest, when we retire is mostly about the choices we make between spending and saving. The Co2015 can retire at exactly the same age as the Co2013, they just need to spend a little less along the way.

If the OP has a point, it's that the class of 2015 has X% less income available after rent and loan payments, than the class of 2013. IMO, calculating X and putting it in the headline would have made more sense than trying to calculate a retirement age.

[sergio]

I'm in my late 20s and think in some ways, we have it easier. It's certainly easier and cheaper to invest, there's TONS of good, free resources out there about early retirement (like this forum.) If I hadn't accidentally stumbled upon this forum while aimlessly web-surfing one night, I don't know if the idea of retiring before age 65 would've ever occurred to me.

Some things are definitely cheaper (cars, electronics, mortgages, etc...) while some are definitely more expensive (college tuition, health care.)

The one thing that worries me going forward are the market returns we'll see in the next 20-25 years compared to those of previous generations. I don't know if we'll ever see a bull market like 1982-2000 again, and the difference between 6-7% and 2-4% (post-inflation) returns can mean years of extra work. I started investing in late 2014, and seeing the market returns from 2000-today is depressing. What's worse is that most of those gains occurred from 2010-2014, and may be artificial due to government meddling in the economy.

This is why I'm starting to look into real-estate (land-lording) as a way to diversify my portfolio and improve future cash flow.

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan What? No sliderule!

Heh heh heh - in the 60's had the straight one(several) and a circular before the hand held calculators came on strong.

[zesty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter unfortunately they are almost certainly in a DC-only world (unless they are in the public sector) and are faced with saving 20% a year in order to fund a decent retirement benefit, above and beyond any SS they might get

I'm at the upper end of millennial classification, and this is true. Everyone says how bad things are going to be, so I have prioritized saving money above everything else.

I did manage to score a job with a pension and I'm trying to get 15 or 20 years on that before retiring. I also save 50% pre-tax from my main job, and spend most of my free time working on projects to build passive income.

Is living like this particularly fun? No, not really. It's alright, but I'd love to save 30% and go on nice vacations, get some newer gadgets, and generally have more fun.

But between having to save enough for my retirement to compensate for extremely low returns, AND save enough to cover my parents as well, it doesn't leave much room for spending.

[zesty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn In my admittedly limited but still non-trivial experience, my observation is that there is a different work ethic - attitude really - between millennials and the broader population. Younger people seem much more "9-to-5'ish." Perhaps their productivity per hour is higher, but young people are less likely to work evenings/weekends.

Haha, you say that like it's a bad thing. I did a solid year of 60-70 hour weeks and it was absolutely awful for the quality of my life.

If someone needs it for a week or two, I can do it. But any more than that and I push back. Luckily the place I'm at now almost never requires anyone to work over 40.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn In addition, they are more likely to want to bounce around between jobs. It's a problem in my work area due to the long learning requirement. We don't want people to leave after the 2-3 years it takes to train them. When hiring, we seek people interested in long-term assignments.

Unfortunately, that's the way to make more money nowadays. When raises cap out at 3% but going to a new company gets you a quick 20% increase, it becomes financially punitive to work at the same place for a long time early in your career.

Without the 2 job switches I made in the first 5 years of my career, I would probably be making $20k less per year than I am now.

[purplesky]

The game has changed in the last 30 years and the millennial generation is screwed.

The race to the bottom economy is still alive and well.

Its very funny people in this thread are attacking this younger generation and their cell phones.


I hear the media report that the Millennial generation prefers renting and that they are not interesting in cars. Thats a lie!

If they actually made a living wage they would buy homes and cars.

Millennials have been handed this "race to the bottom" economy that has lowered the American standard of living.